Regex..can i do this?

I have several part numbers that I need to convert to a fixed format.

AAA000000AAAAA

If the first Charicter(s) is an Alpha, then I need to output it in the first three spots and pad it with spaces so it takes up three spaces. Then, the following will aways be a number and need to make it 6 chars and pad with zero's in the front. The last part always comes with a "-" so it just need to be appended to the end.

I have part numbers like this and show what they need to be turned into.
<sp> = space char

In P/N -----------------Out P/N
1245 ------------------<sp><sp><sp>001245
1245-2A----------------<sp><sp><sp>001245-2A
C1125-12CB ------------<sp><sp>C001125-12CB
V11259------------------<sp><sp>V011259

I hope this is clear? Can it be done in a simple RegEx?

How about a little function to format the part nunmber? Something like this:

VB Code:

Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
                       ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
 
        Dim test() As String = {"1245", "1245-2A", "C1125-12CB", "V11259"}
        Dim display As String = ""
        For Each str As String In test
            display &= FormatPartNumber(str, "x"c, ) & vbCrLf
        Next
        MsgBox(display)
    End Sub
 
    Public Function FormatPartNumber(ByVal partNum As String, _
                                     Optional ByVal paddingChar1 As Char = " "c, _
                                     Optional ByVal paddingChar2 As Char = "0"c) _
                                     As String
        Dim retString As String = ""
        Dim prefix As String = ""
        Dim number As String = ""
        Dim suffix As String = ""
        Dim strTemp As String() = partNum.Split("-"c)
        If strTemp.Length > 1 Then
            suffix = "-" & strTemp(1)
        End If
        Dim chrArray As Char() = strTemp(0).ToCharArray
        For Each ch As Char In chrArray
            If Char.IsLetter(ch) Then
                prefix &= ch.ToString()
            Else
                number &= ch.ToString()
            End If
        Next
        retString = prefix.PadLeft(3, paddingChar1) & _
                    number.PadLeft(6, paddingChar2) & _
                    suffix
        Return retString
    End Function

Probably be easier to do it with string manipulation than with regex, like the above post had mentioned.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gigemboy

Probably be easier to do it with string manipulation than with regex, like the above post had mentioned.

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StanAV code works great. I'd like see it done with Regex to.? I did a goolge search on RegEx and downloaded some editpro pad..or something like that to do the tutorials. I had to restore my computer because I think it installed some virus or something. My machine got real pokie after I installed it. Hopefully the restore will work. I want home after I started the restore so I wont know till monday. Anyway, if anyone is good with regex expressions I would like to see it done that way.

Thanks, Dave

Well regular expressions are really made to "find" text that matches a pattern. I could see it being used to find the actual part numbers in some sort of text, but you already have the part numbers. It would probably require several expressions, I believe, one in order to match on the text inside of the part number you want, and then a regex replace (or regular string replace) statement to replace it with the text you want.

I have used Regex several times, and when you want to start replacing text that you are matching on, it gets a little tricky. Its not as easy as it sounds and I don't really know how to do it without writing out several different statements.